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Is your work-chair slowly killing you?

We live in an age whereby, technology means people are sitting for longer, or as some experts say, we are experiencing the similar health effects of smoking.

Alarm goes off – arrive into work – Sit for approx..7/8 hours – go home – eat dinner/tea – sit down for the night. Ok, not everybody does this as many have families to look after / do their own form of training etc. but I bet a vast amount of people fall into this lifestyle, or a falling into this lifestyle without realising it.

If an employee has a genuine medical issue with their back, any good company will do as much as practically possible to accommodate to make their time in work as comfortable as possible.

A large majority of employees (and people in general) that sit for long periods of time and not exercising will experience back pain or discomfort (in particular, lower back pain). The muscle mass we need to support our back/lower back/core/frame disintegrates because these vital muscles are not being used. It stands to reason. If the muscle thinks it’s not needed it’s not going to sustain itself and regenerate. It will simply disintegrate. It’s a fact of life. You have to work it in order for it to do what it needs to do. The more these muscles are not being used the harder it becomes to support our frame, thus leading to bad posture aches & pains!

We have to take responsibility of our health whilst working in this kind of environment. We have to take charge of ensuring our bodies are at their very best in order to do work that involves sitting for long periods. This doesn’t mean hitting the weights and building ourselves up to world-champion levels or going out smashing marathons. It simply means knowing the right exercises to do in order to sustain (and grow) the right muscles we use to keep correct posture. It means knowing the right stretching techniques to do (and doing them right) to keep those important ligaments doing what they are designed to do. As little as 10 minutes a day exercising the right muscles will improve posture, will stimulate muscle-regeneration and promote growth and strength.

The best ergonomics chair or Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) available isn’t going to fix back pain. It may provide short-term comfort but it’s not going to fix the underlying problem of muscle degeneration. Laying back for hours on end scrolling through Social Media isn’t going to take the pain away. Laying back watching endless end-to-end soaps on television isn’t going to take the pain away. Short-term It may provide a bit of comfort but long-term your muscles are going to start thinking ‘hey, I’m not needed here. I’ll go away’.

We, and only we are accountable for our own health. It’s now that we need to account for our health…..Not next week…not next month…. Not next year…. now!

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